Fairtrade
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| http://www.ed.ac.uk/about/sustainability/be/fair-trade/what-is-fair-trade |
Fairtrade
is a global movement aiming to improve trading conditions for farmers,
especially those in developing countries, as well as promote environmental
sustainability of these goods. According
to the UN Conference on Trade and Development, being labeled as a “Fairtrade”
product or producer requires:
- Financial transparency and traceable sales of goods
- Ethical labor conditions (with respect to age, hours worked, working environment, and safety)
- Respect for the environment throughout production (including water and energy conservation, minimal usage of harsh chemicals, and respect for biological and ecological diversity)
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| http://www.haverford.edu/organizations/fairtradeinitiative |
Thus,
Fairtrade strives to make a difference in our world by promoting justice for
all individuals and environmental resources involved in global trade of
goods. While crops like cotton, bananas,
and coffee are some of the products most commonly associated with fair trade,
the term is evolving to also include manufactured products, like sports balls,
cosmetics, and 3D printer supplies. In
addition to the “Fairtrade Minimum Price,” setting a minimum sales price for
the just trade of each good, “Fairtrade Premiums” are additional payments (say,
for example, an extra $0.10 per pound of cotton) added to each sales price to
benefit the exporters. However, these
funds cannot simply be given to farmers as monetary bonuses; they must be spent
on other social causes, like education or health, to benefit the community, and
producers themselves decide how to allocate the money.
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| http://galleryhip.com/fair-trade-farmers.html |
As more and
more products on developed world store shelves flaunt the “Fairtrade” label, many critics argue that the term has now become commercialized, and consequently,
laborers are still locked in our capitalistic market. As described in this BBC article, Third World
producers rely on Western World consumers to continue spending more on
Fairtrade products, and the Fairtrade label is arguably too focused on subtle
wage increases instead of actually building modern infrastructure and economies. Also, it is often reported that the working conditions of Fair-trade products are often no better than their non-Fairtrade counterparts. Despite these criticisms of its actual
effectiveness in the real world, Fairtrade is certainly an admirable cause, and
it has helped raise awareness about social justice issues within our global
markets. Looking to the future, consumers and distributers will hopefully use
this awareness to make more ethical decisions when engaging in world trade.
Nice post Katie! you say that the term Fairtrade has now become commercialized and laborers are still locked into our capitalist market. what do you think could be done to reverse this trend?
ReplyDeleteHi Sam- I think this is a very complex problem, so there isn't just one simple solution. However, I think one thing that can be done is increasing regulation to ensure that companies are, in fact, providing their workers with the proper working conditions that they're promising.
ReplyDeleteHi Katie,
ReplyDeleteI was interested to learn that FairTrade isn't very strict, in terms of environmental rules and guidelines. Do you think that FTInternational should attempt to focus more on sustainable farming or is their current social and economic model sufficient? Additionally, when you walk into a store would you rather purchase something that is labeled organic or FairTrade?
Hi Isabel- I don't necessarily think that the rules aren't very strict, but rather that the regulation and execution of those rules could be improved. While I think there is always room for improvement for sustainable farming, I think the greater issue is the working conditions of the workers is at the real heart of the Fair-trade controversy right now. As far as whether I would rather but organic or Fairtrade, while Fairtrade does not guarantee that the products are indeed organic, I think Fairtrade better ensures that products are ethically produced, both from an environmental and a personal standpoint. In the future, perhaps the Fairtrade requirements could be extended to also require that food products are organic, to better promote the health of consumers as well as the environment.
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